hayden



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

HQH HAYDEN.

Store Seryice Apparatus.

No. 239,495; Patented March 29,1881.

(No Model.) V '2S1 1eets-Sheet 2.

H. H. HAYDEN. Store Service Apparatus.

No. 239,495. Patented March 29,1881.

N-PETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTONv DC.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

- HARRIS H. HAYDEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,495, dated March 29, 1881.

Application filed May 18, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRIS H. HAYDEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Store Sertice Apparatus, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to that class of apparatus used for the transfer of money, parcels,f 860., between the counters and the desks of a store 5 and my invention has for its object to I effect this result in cases where it is not posno ways. A construction which I have found most efficient is shown in the drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation of the desk and counters of a store in connection with appliances for transferring carriers between sections of waysat different levels. Fig. 2 is a side view of part of the apparatus shown in .Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a rail and device'for arresting and releasing the carriers. Fig.4 is an inverted plan of Fig. 3 5 Fig. 5, a sectionon the line 1 2, Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Thetracks or ways, the carriers, and the propelling means maybe constructed in any of the forms described in the applications for Letters Patent heretofore filed by J. G. White; but I have shown my improvement in connection with the general arrangement illustrated in the Letters Patent granted to the said J. G. White on the 11th day of November, 1879, with the exception that the tracks or ways, instead of extending on the sameinclined plane from the desks to the counters, are broken into sections, theend of one section being in some cases higher than the end of the adjacent section. By this arrangement the end of the higher section may cross a passageway at a higher level than wouldbe practicable with a continuous line of track. In some instances 'the carriage.

the way must terminate at one side of a passage having a desk at the opposite side. In such case the carrier or contents must be transferred from the way to the desk at such alevel as not to obstruct the passage. Between the way and the desk, or between the adjacent sections, is arranged a transfer device, into or onto which the carriers or contents pass, and by means of which they are transferred. This transfer device may be made in various ways, as will be hereinafter described; but I have shown inFig. 1 a carriage and appliances for moving it vertically to coincide alternately with the different sections of rail. I propose to use devices operated by hand or clock-work, hydraulic motors, or other means for imparting automatically aregular, constant, or intermittent movement to the transfer device. Each lower way, and also the carriage, is provided with an adjustable stop device for holding'the carrier until it shall pass to or from Such stop devices may be variously constructed, and should be combined with appliances whereby the carrier is released automatically at proper intervals, and whereby, after one carrier on thelower section is released and permitted to pass to the transfer device, the one immediately behind it will be held until the said device is ready to receiveit.

0 represents the lower, and O the upper, section of the rail or way, upon which carriers A travel over the counters B toward the desk D of the store. These ways, which may be inclined or horizontal, are supported by standards or brackets a, or in any other suitable manner.

The transfer device, as shown in Fig.1, consists of a vertical] y-reci procatin g frame or carriage, I, to which is connected an. inclined rail, 0 with beveled ends adapted to the corresponding beveled ends of the sections 0 G, with which the rail 0 coincides, according as the carriage is in its upper or lower position. The carriage is provided with adjustable grooved rollers Gr, bearing upon upright guides H, and is so balanced by a weight, J connected to a rope, K, passing from the carriage over pulleys J J, that the carriage will remain in its upper position, except when positively fected from the cashiers deskby means of a rope, Q, or in any other manner, as before set forth. At the inner side, and below the upper edge of the rail 0, is secured an L-shaped bracket, E, to the arm b of which, by a pivot, c, is secured a wedge-shaped stop-plate, F, having at the free end a bevel-edged lip, e, that extends through a guide loop, cl. A spring, f, tends to maintain the stop-plate F parallel with the rail 0. On a pi n,'c, set in the arm b of the bracket E, both slides and vibrates the slotted shank l of an -shaped catch, M, having a lip, c, which, when the shank l is drawn out in the direction of its arrow 1, bears upon the lip c and draws the stop F back to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 5. In this position the point e of the catchM projects slightly beyond the face of the rail 0. (See Fig. 3.) When the shank l is swung in the direction of its arrow 2, vibrating on the pin 0, the lip 6 will pass from the lip e, and the stop-plate F will fly back to its first position parallel with the rail 0, and when the catch M is thrown forward the lip e, striking the beveled edge of the lip 0, will slip past the same, and a spring, f, will then throw the catch M inward, so as to bring the lip 6 outside of the lip e, as in Fig. 4 when the backward'motion of the catch M will draw back the stop F, as before. The sliding motion of the catch M is produced by a bar, N, pivoted to one of the standards a at 8, its outer end extending through an opening or loop, or between pins of the shank Z, and its inner end through a socket in an arm, t, pivoted to a crank-lever,]?, jointed to a stationary bracket, 42, and connected at its lower end, m, to a vertical rod, Q, extending through perforated projections j j of the carriage.- The rod Q is provided with adjustable stops 1) p, which are struck by the projections j just as the carriage reaches the limit of its movement in either direction.

A lever, B, is pivoted to the rail 0 and has at the inner end a projection, g, the said end being depressed by a spring, and the outer end projects beyond the rail in aposition to strike any suitable stop, which will tilt the lever as the rail 0 is brought to coincide with the rail 0, thereby raising the projection g out of the way of a stud or pin, 2', on the carriage, and permitting the latter to pass forward from the rail 0 to the rail 0.

Each carrier is provided with a stop-pin, i, which, striking against the lower edge of the stop F when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 1, arrests the movement of the carrier, the following carriers being arrested successively each by contact with the carrier before it.

Upon the descent of the carriage I and the contact of the lower projection j with the stud p, the rod Q will be depressed, the lever P tilted, and the lever Nvibrated, so as to draw back the shank Z and carry the stop F and catches M to the position-shown in Fig. 3. As the stop F is withdrawn from the pin i, the first carrier A moves toward the carriage I, in doing which a projection, u, of the carrier strikes the end E of the catch M, swings the same upon its pivot c, and carries the lip e from the lip 0, when the stop F will spring back to its position in time to be struck by the pin 5 of the succeeding carrier, which is thus arrested, while the first passes onto the rail 0 until it is arrested by its pin i striking the projection g of the lever B. When the carriage I approaches the rail 0, the contact of the lever It with its stop tilts the lever and releases the carrier, which then passes to the rail 0. As the carriage reaches its upper position the upper lugj, striking the stud p, raises the rod Q, tilts the lever P, vibrates the lever N, and throws the catch M forward to the position shown in Fig. 4. By this means each carrier is released and permitted to pass to the carriage while an obstruction is presented, preventing the succeeding carrier from moving beyond the end of the rail 0.

Other stop devices than those described may be used. For instance, a lever, a, (dotted lines, Fig. 1,) may be arranged to prevent the motion of the carriage when near the end of the"rail G, and a stop may be arranged on the carriage to tilt said lever as the carriage is brought opposite the rail 0, releasing the nearest carrier, but restoring the lever to its position before the next carrier can reach the end of the rail.

The return tracks or ways are combined with like transfer appliances, except that the carrier is in some instances taken from the higher to the lower track. The elevators of the returntracks may be counterbalanced, so as to rise ICC and coincide with the upper track when unloaded, but descend under the load of a carrier, thus automatically carrying the latter to the lower track and again rising for another load.

The cars are provided with pins for stopping them at their respective counters, as set forth in the aforesaid patent of J. G. White, or the tracks are constructed to shunt or arrest the cars.

It will be obvious that the means above set forth are as applicable to carrying the carriers across the passages above or below the floor; but I do not limit myself to these specific means, as the same result may be secured by other appliances. For instance, the carrier may be run upon tilting platforms or swinging arms, the movement of which, automatic or otherwise, transfers the carriers or their contents at a different level from one track to the other or across the passage in the store; or traveling belts with catches may be used for like purposes. I do not, however, here claim any of these specific appliances, as they will form the subjects of separate applications.

I claim-- 1 1. The combination, with the way of a storeservice system, of a device constructed to receive the carriers from the way, andapplia'nces, substantially as described, for moving said device with the carriers, as set forth.

2. In a store-service system, a series of tracks or ways extending in sections from the counters to the desk and back to the counters, carriers adapted thereto, and transfer appliances arranged between the sections, substantiallyas .set forth.

3. The combination of the sections 0 0, apparatus for removing the carriers from one section to another,'arresting devices for holding each carrier at the terminus of one section and upon the transfer apparatus, and appliances whereby the carrier is released when the transfer apparatus is in a position adjacent to the end of either section, as set forth.

4. Thecombination of the sections 0 O, the "ertically-reciprocating platform E, and appliances for automatically transferring the carriers to and from said platform, substantially as set forth. 7 p

5. The combination, with the way G, of a movement of the carriage.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRIS H. HAYDEN.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH 0. WHITE, CHAS. D. BAKER. 

